Birrus

{{Short description|Cloak or hood in Britain and Gaul}}

A birrus or birrus brittanicus was a rainproof, hooded woollen cloak (or simply a hood alone), characteristically worn in Britain and Gaul at the time of the Roman Empire and into the Middle Ages.William Smith, D.C.L., LL.D.: A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, John Murray, London, 1875. quoted at [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Birrus.html] (retrieved April 29, 2008)T.W. Potter, Roman Britain, 2nd edition (London, The British Museum Press, 1997) quoted at the British Museum website [https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_prb/b/statuette_of_a_ploughman.aspx] (retrieved April 29, 2008)

A mosaic at Chedworth Roman Villa shows a Briton wearing a birrus brittanicus;[https://web.archive.org/web/20110611151830/http://www.open2.net/historyandthearts/history/locations_chedworth.html BBC/OU Open2.net - History - Locations - Chedworth] there is also one shown on a statue of a ploughman at the British Museum.[https://web.archive.org/web/20151018181731/https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_prb/b/statuette_of_a_ploughman.aspx British Museum website] (retrieved 26 August 2024)